Angleton, Texas – Ro’Vin Garrett, Brazoria County Tax Assessor-Collector announced she has begun inserting a discount drug card when returning motor vehicle registration renewals from her office. The program, called BetterRxCard , and endorsed by Brazoria County Commissioners Court, helps those without insurance save money on prescription drugs at local pharmacies while also providing an online tool to assist insured residents to research lower cost options. Both services are free to Brazoria County residents.

"It is important for our residents to look for these cards within their motor vehicle registration renewal and not throw them away. This card could save them a lot of money," said Garrett.

The county is providing the card in order to help reach residents that may not have heard about the free program. The cards are printed in both English and Spanish and include instructions for accessing both services and more information about the program. One card may be used by an entire family, there are neither income requirements nor maximum limits and the card never expires. There are over 60,000 BetterRxCard participating pharmacies in the U.S.

Brazoria County Commissioner’s Court approved the discount program in September, 2010. In December, 1,500 residents tried the card and 1,100 saved an average of $25 per prescription. The program provides a discount at 45 local pharmacies and is available to residents that do not have prescription drug coverage. This includes uninsured residents and those with insurance when that coverage does not extend to a prescription their doctor wrote for them. To use, the cardholder presents the card at the pharmacy counter and any discount will be applied at the cash register.

The second card feature, called EquivaMeds, helps cardholders find lower cost options for expensive brand name drugs and then helps them work with their personal physician to see if a change is appropriate. This online, patent-pending process generates a report that has been approved by physicians over 95% of the time and has identified an average $93 in monthly savings to residents since it was announced in October.

Based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and Kaiser Family Foundation, there are an estimated 102,000 Brazoria County residents that might benefit from these two features.

Garrett’s office has already mailed out 4,000 cards and estimates 1,000 or more to be sent weekly. For more information on this program, please contact the BetterRxCard program manager, Genuity Group, LLC, toll free at 866-977-3637 or visit www.BetterRxCard.com/Brazoria, where cards may be printed or a list of county-wide card pickup locations may be accessed.